Workforce

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT WORKFORCE - PAGE 3

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday asked the public sector behemoth Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) to further downsize its existing workforce and activate all its units to achieve greater productivity. At a review meeting, Mines Secretary A K D Jadhav asked the company to try and achieve all the targets of the MoUs which HCL has entered with various organisations. The workforce of HCL as on March 31, 2005 was 5,665 as against 5,995 in the same period the previous year, a Mines Ministry official said.

NEW DELHI: Hewitt Associates, a provider of HR outsourcing and consulting services, on Wednesday recommended creation of a nodal agency for workforce development in India, to align the education system with the skill requirements of the industry. This would enable India to fully capitalise on the growing opportunities in the global offshoring services space. "With nations such as the US, the UK, Japan and Singapore witnessing change in demographies, fuelled by an expanding ageing population, India is uniquely positioned to meet the shortfall of service professionals, particularly in the software and BPO sectors.

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday strongly advocated restructuring of the Bureau of Indian Standards, saying despite it being a technical organisation, about 75 per cent of the workforce is of a non-technical background. "It is a burden of history that a specialised institution like the BIS has only 25 per cent or 500 persons out of a total workforce of 2000 from a technical background and the employee-mix must be changed," Consumer Affairs Secretary S Bandhopadhyay said.

NEW DELHI: Two-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto is embarking on a major cost-cutting drive, including trimming the workforce and reducing the vendor base over the next few years, a top company official said on Tuesday. The Pune-based firm might however, revise downwards its sales target of 1.5 m vehicles for the current fiscal if its sales don't pick up by October this year, due to drought in various parts of the country, Bajaj Auto vice president (finance) Sanjiv Bajaj told reporters.

NEW DELHI: High-powered motorcycle maker Royal Enfield Motors would reduce the cost of its workforce by five per cent in the next two years as part of efforts to improve productivity, a senior company official said. It would launch motorcycles with lower engine capacity and safety-related features conforming to European standards, exclusively for the overseas market in the next 3-5 years, the company's Chief Executive Officer Siddhartha Lal said. "We have decided to bring down the total cost of workforce to five per cent from 12 per cent at present.

NEW DELHI: Bajaj Electricals is planning to cut its workforce by 10% in the current year under a business streamlining strategy. The Rs 400-cr company involved in electrical appliances, lighting equipments and turnkey projects, has reorganised its operations under five strategic business units and is planning to have a mix of outsourced and self-manufactured product portfolio to leverage on brand strength and cost efficiency. The company slipped into the red with a net loss of Rs 87 lakhs for the year ended 31 March'02.

MUMBAI: India's top software company Tata Consultancy Services plans to increase its headcount in its facilities in eastern Europe, Latin America and China and double its non-Indian workforce over a period of three years. TCS employs 71,190 people, 7.3 per cent of whom are non-Indians, thanks to the global acquisitions made by the company during the last six months. "We aim to reach a stage in the next two-three years, whereby around 15 per cent of our employees will be non-Indians.

MUMBAI: UTV Software Communications Ltd has bagged three animation contracts from overseas with total value exceeding over $three million. The company is also planning to triple its workforce to 150 personnel and is to invest in animation and infrastructure, UTV Software Communications CEO Ronnie Screwvala said in a release here on Monday. The animation contracts include, a co-production treaty with US-based toymaker Awesome Kids LLC, to produce a show 'Lost in Paris' and 'Magic Cellar' for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)

BANGALORE: More than three quarters of Indian workers say they would be prepared to relocate to a different city to find work while a similar number would be willing to move to a different country, according to a recent survey conducted by Kelly Services. Commuting time ? to and from work ? is a key consideration for employees and the majority (67%) are not willing to spend more than 45 minutes, each way. However, 18% are willing to spend 45-60 minutes and 14% are willing to spend 60 minutes or more each way. The global survey sought the views of 1.15 lakh people in 33 countries, including 3,000 in India.

NEW DELHI: With increasing number of women climbing the competitive corporate ladder, companies seem to be leaving no stone unturned to lure them and are even offering existing employees an additional bonus as much as 25 per cent for referring a female employee. The latest trend for India Inc is that it seems to be taking in larger women workforce as they bring their own perspective for things and have emerged as better professionals in any situations, experts say. "Women bring in their own perspectives and also a diverse set of views to flow onto the table.